We have reached the “sources say” portion of NBA Draft week, which means right now there are more lies and misdirections floating around the rumor mill than Swaggy P photos on Instagram.

Even though Hinkie is the most tight lipped GM is the League, he isn’t immune to the sources syndrome that has kicked into hyperdrive in the last 24 hours. Multiple reports have the 76ers sticking at No. 3 and drafting either Dante Exum or Joel Embiid. A number of other reports claim the Sixers are desperate to move up and are working hard to make that happen on Thursday night. One thing is for sure, the 76ers and their front office people will be in the spotlight at the 2014 NBA Draft.

So, we asked our scribes to assume Sam Hinkie’s role for a minute and submit ideas for both scenarios.

As a reminder, this Philadunkia question and answer series is “loosely based” on ESPN.com’s highly successful, NBA related series of posts titled “5on5″. Our version of this genre of posts will ask 4 Philadunkia scribes to answer 4 topical, hot button questions about our Philadelphia 76ers.

Now you’re probably asking, “Why not simply stick with the “5on5″ format that ESPN.com uses?”

Well as any great hoops coach will tell you — playing 4on4 is the best way to truly learn the game of basketball.

After the jump four key questions that are currently facing our 76ers and some answers from four Philadunkia scribes. Included in this week’s edition are questions surrounding the upcoming NBA Draft, the Sixers coaching search and what the Sixers should do in free-agency.

Lavoy Allen, PF26 MIN | 4-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | -15At times in the second half I was actually ok with Allen’s physicality. Yet, the 14-footer off his back foot to basically seal the game for the T’Wolves was one of the ugliest things I’ve seen all year. Grading on the Allen curve (due to his recent production increase) I’ll be nicer than usual.

Evan Turner, SF36 MIN | 6-16 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 17 PTS | -8If a basketball game was 12 minutes, Turner played a hell of a game. Turner sparked the Sixers comeback in the third, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the quarter. He disappeared however in the fourth and I’ve gotten really tired of his act of lobbying calls. On a couple occasions Nikola Pekovic clearly fouled Turner with no-call’s, but when you start whining it’s only going to make matters worse. If there’s one player who should be nervous on deadline day, it’s ET. (Crossing my fingers for a Josh Smith trade)

Jrue Holiday, PG35 MIN | 7-17 FG | 2-4 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 16 PTS | -16In a rare occurrence Jrue struggled with foul trouble all game, which killed any chance the Sixers had at winning this game. He sat for key moments of the third and fourth quarter and couldn’t be as physical as he wanted on the offensive end. Jrue’s five steals were a season high, but it was also the first time he’s fouled out all season. This cannot happen against a team like the Timberwolves. Wins are sparse for this team as it is.

Nick Young, SG32 MIN | 1-7 FG | 4-9 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -9Swaggy wasn’t Swag-nificent in this game. I’m happy that he attacked the rim though. His nine free-throw attempts is actually the second most by a Sixer this season. Thaddeus Young attempted 11 back on November 27th against the Mavericks. It would’ve been even better if Swaggy could’ve hit them. When he was fouled on a three early in the fourth, he somehow missed all three attempts when it would’ve cut the Timberwolves’ lead to just seven with 8:04 to play. There were a lot of those missed opportunities in this game, but that one was especially brutal to watch.

Dorell Wright, SF19 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +5Making progress is a big thing for a players psyche. This was Wright’s first game of scoring double digits since January 4th. It seems like coach Doug Collins has taken Wright out of the Do(u)g House recently and let him roam free a little bit on the hardwood. He’s averaged nearly 18 minutes a game in the past five games after averaging just under eight minutes in the eight games prior. Now if only he could find his shooting stroke!

Jeremy Pargo, PG9 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | 0I would’ve liked to have seen a Jrue/Pargo combo at some point in this game. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. Pargo getting a deal for the rest of the season is one of the few bright spots that has happened for the Sixers in the past few weeks. I’m hoping that eventually he will receive a lot more minutes than the next two people below him.

Damien Wilkins, SG26 MIN | 5-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +5Wilkins had a rare offensive performance in this game. His 13 points were a season high. He hasn’t registered 10 points in a game since January 4, 2012. His play at the end of the second quarter and Turner’s third quarter turned this into a game in the second half.

Arnett Moultrie, PFDNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | An extra C’monnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Son to Doug Collins! How the hell did Arnett Moultrie get a DNP when the Sixers were getting eaten alive in the paint and on the boards? Collins is quickly coaching his way out of Philadelphia for antics like this.

Doug Collins“We played terribly I don’t know what else to say. It was terrible. No energy, no life at all. It was terrible. I can’t candy-coat it any more than that. The only thing we did in the second half was compete. We didn’t play well, we just played harder.”- Doug Collins…We agree Doug…Now what are you going to do about it? How many times are we going to sit through the same speal? You’re beginning to sound like another Philadelphia coach who was run out of town just last month. Tick tock, tick tock.

A relatively new and popular way of analyzing sports teams and players is through the use of advanced statistics.

Around the NBA, you’ve seen teams hiring their own stat guru’s to better evaluate talent based on their findings. Early in December, the Memphis Grizzlies hired ESPN’s highly popular analyst, John Hollinger, as their Vice President of Basketball Operations. At the beginning of the season, the Sixers hired Aaron Barzilai, creator of the website basketballvalue.com, as the team’s director of analytics.

The most famous stat-guy in the front offices of an NBA team is Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets. He was the first NBA general manager to be hired through the Moneyball concept of thinking. This past offseason, he famously signed Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik while also trading for James Harden. The Rockets are now one of the most intriguing and exciting teams to watch in the League, currently holding the NBA’s second-best offense.

Being relatively new to the subject of advanced statistics I couldn’t think of a better way to both enlighten myself about the topic and to give readers a better understanding as well then to interview one of the more popular number-crunchers out there today.Continue Reading

Undoubtedly the most polarizing figure to the Sixers organization over the past 25 years was guard Allen Iverson. It’s hard to believe that the organization is now three seasons removed from Iverson’s last game with the team back on February 20th, 2010 in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Just because the Answer is now years and miles away from his playing days with the Sixers, doesn’t mean he can’t still make headlines in the city where he used to do it on a daily basis. As always with Iverson, there’s some good news and bad news to report to you on the sports icon as he’s miles away in China still trying to fight his way back onto an NBA roster.

Jrue Holiday (left) and Evan Turner have been crucial to the Sixers success this season.

As everybody already knows, the NBA is a star-centered league. It was never more evident then when one of the NBA’s most respected coaches, Gregg Popovich, was chastised for deciding to sit four of his star players in a game last night against arguably the NBA’s best team in the Miami Heat.

For the 2012-13 Sixers, it’s been more of the same. From the start of the campaign up until now, there’s been one man drawing the attention of the national media, while next to nothing has been said of the “team” that stands at 9-6, good enough for the fifth best record in the Eastern Conference. The focus has been on Andrew Bynum, the All-Star center who hasn’t been able to play a minute this season for the Sixers as he recovers from offseason knee procedures.

Before the Sixers’ first nationally televised game this season against the New Orleans Hornets, the Sixers were on ESPN.com’s front page. Instead of a story focusing on the promising youth and acquisitions the Sixers were able to make in the offseason, it was a story focused on questioning the Sixers ownership, calling the moves they made this season a “risk”. All of the negativity was built around the status of Bynum, the Sixers’ most talked-about offseason acquisition since Elton Brand.

As the national media now steers its way away from Philadelphia (due to Bynum’s playing status being much clearer), maybe the NBA’s fans will be able to focus on the Sixers in a positive light and see who they really are this season as a team rather than who they’re not.

When I have to say things like, “Lavoy Allen looks slower than Chris Kaman”, then you know you had a bad game. I’m tired of drilling Lavoy, but he’s playing like “Mr. 500″ this season. Due to both foul trouble and bad play, Lavoy barely saw the court in the second half of this game.

Thad could find himself playing in his first All-Star Game if he keeps his play at this level. 20 points, 7 boards and a career-high 11 free-throws attempted. The bulk he added in the off-season is paying dividends for the Sixers who crucially need him to succeed for the team to succeed. He wasn’t necessarily strong on defense, but made up for it and then some on the offensive end of the court. Needless to say, he’s a starter the rest of the year no matter what happens if Bynum does indeed return.

In the first quarter, ET had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. In the third quarter Turner had three straight crucial buckets to turn a 66-70 deficit into a 72-70 lead. In the fourth quarter, Turner denied Vince Carter an attempt at the last shot (when he had been red hot in the quarter up until that point) to bring the Sixers a victory. It was a complete performance from Turner on both ends of the floor who finished with a game-high 22 points and showed an organization the type of player he’s capable of being on a more consistent basis. Turner’s now scored 10 or more points in the last seven games while adding at least four rebounds and three assists. In fact Evan has now scored 10 or more points in 11 of the Sixers 15 games this season (73%). Last season Turner scored 10 or more in just 28-of-66 games (42%).

Great game from Jrue, up until the fourth quarter. Two crucial turnovers, a couple late misses and a foul on O.J. Mayo which could have cost the Sixers a win. I was rooting for Jrue to score 20 points so I could research when the last time three different Sixers reached 20 or more points in a game, unfortunately it didn’t happen. However 18 points, seven assists and three steals is a great performance in my book. His defense on O.J. Mayo deserved applause and he made a few awe-inspiring passes to open teammates. He took a step back in terms of turnovers, but his plus’ outweighed his minus’ in the grand scheme of the game.

Richardson hit two straight three’s to open the game, but then didn’t score the rest of the night. However, he played solid defense with three steals, he had eight first half rebounds and the Sixers were +13 with him on the court. Hard to argue with his playing time.

Wright’s playing time was one of the things I was upset about in this game. The Sixers were up 87-81 when Wright exited the game midway through the fourth quarter. He had just had a huge dunk a couple plays earlier for his first points of the game, but he had played a large role as a facilitator and defender up until that point. Swaggy P on the other hand was having a terrible game and terrible fourth quarter up until that point, but for some reason when it came time for Thad to check back into the game it was Swaggy and not Wright who was allowed to stay on the court. I don’t know what Wright did for Collins to be dogging him like this, but after a great start to the season I would’ve expected Wright to be respected a little more than this.

Spencer Hawes, C13 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -7

For the most part, Hawes was a non-factor in this game. He had a couple big buckets in the fourth and a big steal, but really disappointing overall. He’s now gone nine-straight games without 10 rebounds and had just two in this game. If he doesn’t start getting physical, Collins will find minutes for guys who are willing to bang no matter how much shorter they may be.

Kwame Brown, C16 MIN | 2-3 FG | 2-4 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +6

Were you as happy as I was watching Kwame Brown in this game? He was physical, he was smart, he was efficient, he was active on the boards and he showed toughness. Literally every question I had about Kwame was answered in his 16 minutes of playing time. He can be a productive player in this League, he really just has to be aggressive and to stay focused. I admittedly am a hater of Kwame, but I was excited for him watching this game. The crowd, after booing him when he first entered the game, was even behind him by the end of the game. If Kwame can start to do this every night then maybe Doug Collins knew what he was doing all along. If not…I go back to my realistic expectations.

Before the game I asked Maalik how he had felt getting his first real production in the NBA in the teams win over Pheonix and he responded, “I’m getting more comfortable. I know what to do now and I’m getting more acclimated to it. I’m trying to make the most of my minutes whether it’s five minutes or seven minutes, whatever it is I’m trying to make the most of it and to come out successful.” In Maalik’s most extensive minutes of the season against the Mavs, he had his ups and downs but ultimately showed that he can be more than effective for the team this season. He had eight first half points and showed that his speed is something that could be dangerous to an opposition. He was crossed up to the floor by Collison, but came back with a three. He was blocked by Brand, but came right back at the rim and was hacked for two. He left Collison wide open for a three, but attacked the rim right after and got two more from the line. Inconsistency is supposed to come with being a rookie, give Maalik some playing time to get comfortable and he could be dangerous.

Nick Young, SG21 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +2

Horrible game. Should’ve played at least 10 minutes less than he did. His only points came off of a runner/floater where he almost turned the ball over. He also made a careless pass for an easy two and simply took his eyes off a pass on another occasion. Despite the crowds “swag” chants, this guy deserved some bench time.

Was the win over the lowly Orlando Magic the most unconvincing, convincing win ever?

As far as this season goes, it was.

It finally takes away the withstanding asterisks next to those quality blow outs. It eliminates all complaining that Collins can’t win the close ones. It hopefully prevents the meat heads from BEGGING for a quality opponent as a measuring stick. And with any luck, keeps the Sixers under the radar to their upcoming opponents.

That win, to me, handled and dismantled all of that.

In all seriousness, the Sixers just choked out the Orlando Magic offense with its usual strong defensive grasp; holding on to their first place rank in points allowed per game at 86.1. They’ve done it to the bottom feeders consistently and they just did it to an Eastern Conference playoff mainstay. Even in this drowned out and ludicrous season forOrlando, they are still a playoff team. Period. And that beat down just happened.

Thaddeus Young, even among those in his deeply unsettled profession, holds a uniquely unsettled position.

Not only does he, like the rest of his League’s players, not know the particulars of the new CBA he’ll be playing under when/if this season starts, he also, as a free agent, doesn’t know what team he’ll be suiting up for. And even if he — as is widely expected — returns to the 76ers, he’s completely in the dark about his new boss (now-Sixers majority owner Josh Harris) because the terms of the lockout bar them from so much as exchanging emails.

So you could say Thad has a lot on his mind.

But despite this uncertainty, Thursday afternoon from his hometown of Memphis, Thad made some time for us — opening up about the long offseason, his training regiment and getting recognized in airports.